Silencing of anti-Chavez channel sparks protests

CARACAS, Venezuela 
Venezuelan police and national guard troops have fired tear gas and plastic bullets to disperse thousands of protesters after President Hugo Chavez's government forced a TV channel off cable.

Cable companies dropped the anti-Chavez channel Radio Caracas Television Internacional over the weekend.

RCTV ran afoul of the government by defying new rules requiring cable networks to carry mandatory programming including some of Chavez's speeches.

Police and national guard officers intervened Monday to try to keep a march by university students from reaching the government telecommunications agency.